Is your company a real estate business or a content business? How does this impact your most important moves and the investments that you should be making?

Undercover Real Estate Businesses

It used to be that many companies were really just real estate businesses in disguise. McDonalds is probably the most obvious of these. It’s not about the dollar menu burgers. It’s about the real estate.

This has also been true of schools and the most famous universities, as well as government. Ivy League colleges are really just real estate businesses which also happen to have students as tenants, and tuition as an extra form of cash flow. The US government is probably the biggest landlord in the world. Everyone has to pay them rent every year in the form of annual property taxes. They seize property and resell it when it suits them. The same may be true of many big funds which trade other financial products to pay for prime real estate.

However, all of this is changing. It may have already changed.

It’s A Content Business

Today, many, if not most of the biggest businesses are actually content businesses in disguise.

Netflix is not a technology company, it is a content company. Disney, Google, Zillow, Facebook, Twitter, and AT&T, are all content companies. They own a lot of prime real estate, but they generate billions of dollars in annual revenues from their content. They are happy to buy up other businesses with great content for billions of dollars.

Of course, real estate businesses are content companies too. Whether it is pushing out listings, home value tools, renovation tips, or investment advice, it is increasingly about the content.

The Big Question Is...

How strong is your content game?

Content will make or break you. It will determine how much real estate you can sell if that is still your thing. As well as how much other income you can generate.

Content in its many forms is increasingly differentiating the few leaders from the masses of wannabes. So, how are you capitalizing on this shift? Are you doing enough content? Are you putting out the highest quality content in your space? Are you monetizing the content itself in addition to making more real estate deals as a result of your content?

Which marketing channels should real estate wholesalers be ramping up to dominate in 2017?

Along with funding for deals, marketing is vital for real estate investors. Get ahead of the competition in your marketing to sellers and buyers, and you’ll dominate the market and control the flow of deals and profits. So, which types of tactics and media do you want to be investing in to really get rocking and do more deals over the next couple months?

1. YouTube

Video marketing is definitely trending. More and more consumers are digesting video content, and this is only likely to continue as devices and internet speeds get better. It’s as close as you can get to in-person marketing on the web. Now is the time to set a video content production and publishing schedule, and make a new Year’s resolution to stick with it. Don’t allow quality to become and excuse to stall and not get started. You don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment. What’s really most important is being unique and authentic, and offering value.

2. Instagram

Instagram appears to have totally kicked Pinterest’s backside when it comes to getting results in real estate marketing. All investors and wholesalers should really be on Instagram. Again, come up with a plan for posting something daily, and make it a priority. Use hashtags, mentions of other handles, and location based posts to increase engagement. You can use video on Instagram, but the data suggests still images perform better.

3. Blogging

Text content is only becoming more important. The analysts, top investors, and big corporations are all in agreeance on that. You’ve got to be producing good content on a consistent basis. Just make it interesting and valuable. Avoid the urge to just churn out filler content. Choose quality over quantity.

4. Off-Site Content

Don’t just publish new content for your own real estate website either. Guest posting spots on other sites, in magazines, and in the news can all be powerful ways to hack lists and leads in bulk, while boosting your brand visibility.

5. Live Events

The entertainment industry is a $2T business. That dwarfs most other industries, including many real estate sectors. While our lives may have mostly gone digital, and perhaps because of it, people want to get out and experience things in the real world more than ever. So, host engaging open houses, educational meetups, and collaborate with other business partners on interesting events that get people out and allow you to interact in a warm way.

6. Direct mail

Direct mail is still an important part of the marketing mix. It can still work, and be profitable. However, rather than going cheap and broad, consider being more targeted, creative, and invest in quality pieces which will really stand out and get attention.

7. Mobile Apps

 

Mobile apps continue to be among the best ways to stay in front of customers and keep engagement and transactions up. Mobile friendly websites are a must, as is mobile search engine marketing. Yet, apps continue to take over and become very key native advertising and branding tools. It might cost you less than you think to develop your own app, or even brand and existing app and make it yours.

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.